Lessons Learned

As often referenced in these missives, investors need to manage the risk, for as Benjamin Graham espoused in his book The Intelligent Investor, “The essence of investment management is the management of RISKS, not the management of RETURNS. Well-managed portfolios start with this precept.”

-Jeffrey Saut, managing director, Raymond James

Beginning of the year letters are always hard to write because there is a tendency to talk about the year gone by, or worse, attempt to predict the year ahead. Therefore, we are titling this year’s letter in an attempt to share some of the lessons that should have been learned over the past few years. We begin with this quote from an Allstate commercial featuring Dennis Haysbert:

“Over the past year, we’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned that meatloaf and Jenga can actually be more fun than reservations and box seats. That who’s around your TV is more important than how big it is. That the most memorable vacations can happen ten feet from your front door. That cars aren’t for showing how far we’ve come, but for taking us where we want to go. We’ve learned that the best things in life don’t cost much at all.”